DEMERARA Bank Limited last Friday executed a loan agreement with the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to finance the purchase of 50 prefabricated timber houses from a supplier in Guyana.

The agreement was signed in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines by General Manager of the Bank, Dowlat Parbhu and Prime Minister of the island-nation, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

According to a press statement from the bank, this collaboration will see the creation of an important model that will foster an environment for increased regional trade between Guyana and the Caribbean.

The prefabricated houses, built by Duravilla Homes, a local company in Guyana, comprises one, two and three-bedroom models and are engineered to withstand up to category four hurricanes.

The houses are expected to be delivered in March, 2023, and will greatly aid efforts by the Vincentian government to rebuild and repair communities that were devastated by the eruption of La Soufrière volcano in 2021.

The Prime Minister mentioned at the signing that almost 20 per cent of the population was displaced by the eruption and that the government is purchasing these homes to replace, free of cost, those houses that were damaged during the eruption.

He further stated that to his knowledge, this is the first time that the government will be accessing financing from a local indigenous bank in Guyana and thanked the board and management of Demerara Bank Ltd for their support.

Parbhu related that the bank is deeply honoured to partner with the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in its recovery efforts and that the facility, which was granted over seven years, is one of many opportunities that the bank will explore to foster and enhance trade and investment within the region.

Demerara Bank opened its doors to the public in 1994 and has served as a catalyst for growth in Guyana’s economy.

It continues to focus its strategies on providing a differentiated customer experience and leverages on sustainable long-term relationships to support major developing sectors in Guyana.

The bank recently announced that a $900 million revolving fund was established with the Government of Guyana to support the forestry sector, and shortly before inked an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through their Trade Finance Facilitation Programme (TFFP) for a US$7 million Line of Credit Facility to support short-term international trade-financing requirements.